How long does a modular building last?

A permanent modular building lasts as long as a building made on site. It is designed to the same National Construction Code, certified the same way and built from the same permanent materials, so there is no shorter clock running on it because part of the work happened in a factory.

The question usually comes from experience of relocatable buildings, which are a different product. The two are compared in the difference between relocatable and permanent modular.

What decides the life of any building

A building lasts as long as its structure, its envelope and its upkeep allow. The structure has to carry its loads for the life it was designed for, the cladding, roof and windows have to keep the weather out, and someone has to look after it.

None of that is decided by where the building was assembled. It is decided by the design, the materials and the standard of the work.

The frame

A module has to survive something a conventional building never faces. Before it is a home it is lifted, trucked, craned and set down to the millimetre, so its structural frame is over-engineered to withstand road transport.

Once installed, that strength stays. The frame is structurally over-built for its service life, which is why a MADE module, once installed, is a premium structural solution compared with conventional in-situ construction. The reasoning is set out in why the structural frame is over-engineered.

The frame is hot-dipped galvanised, powder-coated steel. It does not rot, it does not shrink as it dries, and it is not a food source for termites.

The base and the envelope

Under the modules sits a conventional base structure, built on site from the tried and tested materials of conventional construction.

Outside, the modules are clad in brick, masonry or timber, the same permanent materials used on any good home. Face brick in particular asks for very little attention over decades. The choices are covered in external cladding selection and durability.

Factory conditions

Many faults that shorten a building's life start small, such as a membrane laid in the rain or a frame left open to the weather for weeks while a trade is late.

In a climate-controlled factory those conditions do not arise. Wet areas, linings and services are built and checked under cover, to a measured tolerance, before the module leaves for site.

Maintenance

No building lasts without care. Gutters, sealants, paint and mechanical services need attention on a schedule, exactly as they do on a conventional home.

What that care costs, and the design decisions that reduce it, are set out in what a modular building costs to maintain over its life.

A permanent home

We build permanent special-use accommodation, homes residents can live in for many years. Every module is made to become part of a building that stays where it is set down, on the same terms as any other home in the street.

MADEmodular / MADEbetter.

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